Randoms (22 page)

“I don't have to kill you, Snowflake,” he said. “I just have to make you wish I would. Now tell me what you did to my experience points.”

“I didn't do anything. You don't need my help to be a loser. You've got that covered on your own.”

Ardov struck Tamret in her face with his open palm, and she fell to the mats again. I stood there, stunned, not knowing what to do. I had to go in there and stop it, but I knew I wouldn't last thirty seconds against Ardov, and having Tamret watch me take a pounding for her wasn't going to save her. Ardov needed Tamret alive for his delegation to reach eighty levels, but he wouldn't care if I was killed. A lot of people might not care.

I sent a message to Steve. He would be able to handle Ardov. When he didn't answer after fifteen seconds, I sent another message, this one labeled urgent. Then I sent a third. No answer. Maybe he was sleeping. It was close to curfew, after all. Maybe he'd turned down his data bracelet so it wouldn't wake him. I wanted to go run to his room, bang on the door, but I didn't dare leave Tamret alone for the five minutes it would take.

Not that my being there was helping her. I stood by, helpless, while she took a swing at Ardov. The force field flickered, but he didn't even flinch. She didn't have the strength left to hurt him, even with minimal shielding.

I should go in there,
I told myself. Maybe the two of us together could do something. If we teamed up, we could overwhelm him. It sounded good, and it would work in a movie, but in real life I'd just end up being a punching bag on which Ardov could show off his strength. I didn't have anything to bring to that fight. My increased intellect and agility and vision had helped me tell when Semj was lying, and these skills seemed to be making a difference in the spaceflight sims, but they wouldn't amount to much against a guy like Ardov. I'd figured out a way to save the
Dependable
, but this wasn't the same kind of problem. The sad truth was, I had no real skills other than pushing buttons.

Which, I now realized, was what I needed to save Tamret. Maybe if I could rig things properly, then I could get us both out of this without anyone getting hurt. I called up my keyboard and did a quick search. All I had to do was program my data bracelet to keep me synched with the main console in the sparring room, and Tamret and I would be safe. I hoped. It was a crazy idea and a long shot, but it was all I could think of.

My timing was going to have to be perfect, because if I got it wrong, Ardov could really hurt Tamret. He might kill her. I took a deep breath. I could do this, I told myself. This was nothing compared to the fight with the Phandic ship.

I entered in the data, synched my system with the control room's, and then went over to the door. I'd programmed my data bracelet to let me know about the cycle changes with a slight vibration, something no one else would notice. As soon as the first vibration kicked in—a long, single note—I opened the door to the sparring area.

“Hey, guys,” I said, doing my best to sound oblivious. “What's going on? Anything interesting?”

Ardov had been turning on Tamret, but now he stared in disbelief. “So,” he said. “Finally ready to fight me?”

“Nah,” I said. “But me and Tamret had a date to get milk shakes. Well, not a date. A plan. We had a plan. And she was running late, so I figured I'd track her down.”

Ardov began stomping toward me. His fists were tight balls, like sledgehammers, and I wasn't safe. Not yet. I needed to buy a few more seconds.

“You can join us, if you want. Come on, Ardov. You know what I think your problem is?” I was blundering my way through this, but the moment I spoke, I knew it was the right move. Ask
him a question, and he has to pause to answer. That would give me the time I needed.

“What?”

Then I received a vibration from my data bracelet—this time three short notes. I was safe.

“Your problem is that you're a big, smelly butt. That's your problem.”

He turned on me, his fist jerking back, and he slammed it directly into my face. I tried my hardest not to flinch, but I don't think I was successful. At least I did not turn away. I held still and his fist collided with the plasma field, set to the highest protection.

I'd set the sparring room program into a cycle, but in order for it to work, it had had to shut down for several seconds, which is why I'd needed to delay him. Now I hoped to get Tamret out of the room before Ardov forced me to take advantage of the next phase of the program.

I gave Tamret my hand. Her grip was warm and soft and I liked how it felt. I pulled her to her feet, and she looked at me with gratitude and relief.

“Let's get out of here,” I said.

“You two aren't going anywhere.” Ardov positioned himself between us and the door. “I'll keep you here as long as I need to, and I'm willing to bet there's a way to hurt you, even with the force field turned up.”

“We don't actually have to be enemies,” I said, figuring I had nothing to lose by trying something crazy—not hating each other. “Come on, Ardov. We could just start over.”

“No.” He leaned back and then seemed to lift from the floor as he launched into a flying kick aimed directly at Tamret's
middle. I tried to get in front of it, but there was no time. It connected, and though the plasma field flashed blue, Tamret let out a grunt of pain.

“Thought so,” he said. “Even with the field on, it still hurts where I've already kicked you.”

He'd kicked her in the stomach. I felt a buzzing in my head. Ardov had hurt Tamret. I could not think of anything else. My jaw was clenched, and my own fists were balled. Somewhere, beyond the buzzing in my head, Ardov was laughing, asking me what I planned to do about it.

Then my bracelet vibrated, indicating the next phase of the cycle, and suddenly it was all clear. I had three seconds, and I used them. Ardov was in the middle of a speech about how we were too weak to stop him, too afraid, too pathetic. That's when I hit him. I took him by surprise, pummeling him once in the nose with my fist. Maybe he would have reacted faster under other circumstances, but he thought the field was set to maximum. He might even have leaned into the blow contemptuously. In any case, I made full contact, and with the field completely down, he went reeling backward.

He cried out in pain, and put both his hands to his nose.

“That hurt!” he shouted, sounding nasal. And when he turned back to face us, I saw I had bloodied him. My hand hurt too. You don't see that in the movies, but it was painful to punch someone in the nose. I shook out my fingers and turned to Ardov, hoping he'd had enough.

It would be nice if when you hurt the bully, he turned out to be a coward—just like in all those books we read when we were younger. It usually doesn't work that way, though. It didn't work that way this time. Ardov rounded on me, but I stood my
ground, and with the field back on high, his blow glanced off of me with some unpleasant pressure, but nothing more.

He stared at me, his expression slack and dumb.

Tamret took my hand again. Her eyes were cast down, and she hadn't said anything, but she knew I'd come for her, that I had been there for her, and we didn't need for there to be any words.

“Turns out I've got a few moves,” I said.

“You're cheating!” he declared.

“Yes, Ardov,” I agreed. “I'm cheating. It's a rigged game, and only I know the rules, and if that's how I keep you from beating up on Tamret, then I feel pretty good about cheating. So how about you step aside.”

Tamret was still holding my hand, and she must have felt it when my data bracelet buzzed again, because she now looked up at me. “Oh,” she said. “I get it.”

She then turned and launched herself into a sideways kick, moving with more agility than an Olympic gymnast. She caught Ardov full in the face with her foot, and he went reeling backward, slammed into the wall, and fell on the floor.

Tamret walked over to Ardov, who was on all fours now, his head hanging low. He raised a hand a little bit off the floor. “No more. I've had enough,” he said weakly.

“I'm not so sure.” She raised her foot as if to kick him again.

“I promise,” he said. “I'll leave you alone.”

She paused. She now had no idea, of course, if her blows would land, but I didn't think she meant to hurt him anymore. She just needed him to believe otherwise.

“How do I know you'll keep your word?”

“I swear by [
the primary goddess of revenge
]!” He was
crying now. Actual tears were matting the fur on his face.

“Those are just words, and I know words mean nothing to someone like you. But I swear if you try to hurt me again, if you try to hurt anyone I care about, next time you will die. I swear it by [
the primary goddess of revenge
], and if you aren't willing to keep your word, you know I'll keep mine.”

She raised her foot again, and he flinched. Maybe that was enough for her, because she smiled and turned away. She then took my hand. “I think we're done here,” she said, and led me toward the door.

•   •   •

Once we were in the hall, she threw her arms around me and hugged me so hard it almost hurt. I didn't mind.

When she let go, she grinned at me. “That was really, really clever.”

I shrugged like it was no big deal. In fact, I was maybe the proudest I'd ever been in my life. This was better than saving the
Dependable
. I didn't have to worry about the harm I'd done. Tamret was safe, and no one was seriously hurt. This was what victory felt like.

Tamret's eyes misted over, and I realized she had begun to cry. “I'm sorry, Zeke.” She choked and stammered out the words.

“Why are you sorry?” I asked. I had no idea.

“I'm sorry I kept secrets from you.” She pushed me away, and just like that she was done crying. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and took a deep breath. “Let's go out. I need to get out of here, get some fresh air, see the city.”

“It's after curfew,” I said.

“I just came within a breath of being killed. I don't really
care about curfew. I have no idea what a [
milkshake
] is, but I plan to get one. Do you want me to go out by myself?”

I did not.

•   •   •

A quick search on my data bracelet had identified this as the closest eatery that served anything like a milkshake, and it was a pretty good approximation, though the flavors tended toward root vegetables, and gelatinous chunks bobbed in the glass like icebergs. The location almost made up for the floating chunks. The restaurant was on the roof of a midsize building toward the station's center, so all around us was the city, with its buildings and lights and wonders spread out almost to the horizon. Above us, three of the gas giant's variously colored moons shone bright through the dome. There was a low, whining music playing, like mosquitoes buzzing to an irregular and unpredictable beat, and there were other tables with other couples. They were at their tables, and we were at ours, and all of Confederation Central was lit up in every direction and the stars were blazing above us and shuttles with their flashing lights darted through the sky.

Tamret's jaw was a little swollen, though the nanites were hard at work to minimize the damage. My hand, too, was already feeling better, and I was still nearly dizzy with relief. When I'd first set foot into the control room, I'd been so afraid that I would fail her, that I would have to stand by helplessly while Ardov hurt her, but instead I'd saved her with my button pushing. Now here we were, overlooking all this beauty, all this wonder. I did not imagine it was possible to be happier and more content than I felt at that moment.

“Why does he hate you so much?” I asked.

“Well, now he hates me because he thinks I've been messing
with his account and keeping him from gaining experience.”

“Have you?”

She laughed and shook her head, and her hair fell forward and danced around her face. She whisked it away and looked up at me. “Don't be silly, Zeke. Of course I have.”

I leaned forward. “Are you out of your mind? You are going to get yourself kicked out.”

“They'd have to catch me first, so I think I'm okay. Their security amounts to a sign saying ‘Please don't break our rules.'”

“I thought hacking the skill system wasn't even possible.”

“For Confederation citizens,” she said with a wicked smile. “For Ardov, the security was a little more lax.”

“I don't believe this. Are you some kind of compulsive criminal?”

“You're talking like your chaperone, Ms. Price,” Tamret said. “You know she wants me to stay away from you, right?”

“Did she tell you that?” I felt my whole body tense. Was Ms. Price going around trying to ruin my friendships behind my back?

“She said it was for the good of your planet, that I was getting in the way of your making friends with your own kind. She said that you were only friends with me and Steve because the other humans didn't want you.”

“You don't believe that, do you?” My voice broke somewhat embarrassingly, but I hoped it would get lost in translation.

“Well,” Tamret said airily, clearly wanting to tease me now, “I see how you look at the others in your delegation.”

“Tamret!”

“Back to the story. I was talking about how I tinkered with Ardov's experience points.”

I tried to put Ms. Price's meddling out of my mind. “Which you should not have been doing! They caught you before, and this is even more serious. You know how they are about the point system.”

“And would you really care if they kicked me out?” she asked.

I could not answer that. Not truthfully. I couldn't let her know how much I would care. I couldn't tell her that if I hadn't been fighting for my mother's life, I would rather be kicked out myself than have to stay here without her. “Why was he harassing you? Why did you put up with him bossing you around?”